Nancy’s eyes couldn’t have been wider; this wasn’t the Ged she’d seen so far, the gawky, nervous kid who couldn’t have been less streetwise if he’d tried. Where had that come from? She decided to add her two penn’orth while she could.

‘It’s not just him you should be scared of, mate, any shit and the crew will be up from Manchester, trust me, you don’t want them down because they’ll mess you up proper. Twisted they are, fucking nutters.’

Squeaky wiped his mouth with the side of his hand and sucked hard on his fag. ‘I’ll get this lot bagged up then. That phone will be on fire soon and we need to make sure we’re ready. I’ll give Dino a bell and tell him to get his arse here ready for work.’

Ged sat watching as Squeaky took the drugs from the package and started to weigh them out into small bags. It was the first time Ged had seen exactly what he’d been carrying up from Manchester. Fuck’s sake. That wasn’t weed. It was smack, fucking heroin. Class A stuff. Ged’s jitters turned into full-blown panic. Nancy didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. She kicked her shoes off. This was a great adventure for her, way better than hanging out on her own at Piccadilly station. She’d ring home though and say she was staying at a friend’s, all she needed was her mam ringing the rozzers reporting her missing.

The mobile Mathew had given Ged started to ring.

‘Go on then,’ Squeaky said.

Ged fumbled about with the buttons to answer the call. He had no idea how this worked; he’d have to play it by ear. Squeaky was getting impatient.

‘Mate, answer the fucking call. We’re losing money if you don’t.’

‘Hello,’ Ged’s voice was barely audible. There was a silence. It was clear he had been bluffing. Squeaky walked over and grabbed the phone from Ged’s hand.

‘Yo, mate, what d’you want?’ Ged could hear the voice at the other end of the phone though not what it was saying. Squeaky listened for a moment before replying.

‘Right, be at the bridge in ten. And make sure you’re on time because our guy won’t wait about there for long. There’s been a few old bill knocking around there lately so make sure you’re on the ball.’

The call ended and Squeaky chucked the phone back at Ged. ‘So, it’s the first time you’ve managed the line then?’

Ged had no idea how to reply. It was clear he’d already lied and he didn’t reckon he’d get away with it again. Nancy could see he was on the spot and answered for him.